THE SALT OF THE EARTH

If childhood were not in the world,

But only men and women grown;

No baby-locks in tendrils curled,

No baby-blossoms blown;

Though men were stronger, women fairer,

And nearer all delights in reach,

And verse and music uttered rarer

Tones of more godlike speech;

Though the utmost life of life’s best hours

Found, as it cannot now find, words;

Though desert sands were sweet as flowers,

And flowers could sing like birds:

But children never heard them, never

They felt a child’s foot leap and run, —

This were a drearier star than ever

Yet looked upon the sun.

Arthur Hughes THE KING’S ORCHARD Oil on canvas. Circa 1858 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Артур Хьюз КОРОЛЕВСКИЙ САД Холст, масло. Ок. 1858 Музей Фицуильяма, Кембридж